Bored Panda reached out to Craig Ernst, a 53-year-old sixth-generation New Orleanian who’s also a full-time real estate professional with a special focus on New Orleans' historic houses and historic neighborhoods. Ernst is the founder and admin of the Historic New Orleans Homes group, and he happily shared some insights into this wonderful community, as well as the unique New Orleans architecture.

In addition, Ernst spends significant time volunteering for a local nonprofit, the Friends of the Cabildo, which provides funds and volunteers to support the programs and the historic properties of the Louisiana State Museum.

“One of the Friends' major sources of funding is conducting twice-daily, two-hour history and architecture-focused walking tours of the city's historic center, the French Quarter. For the past several years, I've been privileged both to give many of these tours myself and to help train many new volunteer tour guides to do the same,” he told us.

Given Ernst’s work and volunteer interests, it may not be surprising to learn that the idea to start a group focused on New Orleans' historic homes and architecture came, very simply, from his desire to find such a group on Facebook for his own enjoyment and his inability to do so!

“Despite the fact that visitors literally come every day from all over the world to see New Orleans' rich and diverse stock of historic homes and buildings, as of early 2019, no one had bothered to form a group focused on that topic,” the creator of the group recounted.

Ernst said that since he had some previous experience in moderating online groups, he decided just to jump in and form one. “Early on, I was primarily posting my own photographs, but in my desire to post more than a couple of times a day, I decided to start curating and posting a selection of appropriate photographs from others (most of whom are far more talented than I am in this area!), with full credit and a link back to the original post.”

Meanwhile, at present, Ernst is busy posting a curated selection of about ten photos per day that people can comment on and discuss. Moreover, a good number of other people post original and curated photos to the group, as well. Ernst explained that there are probably three distinct areas of architecture that people most associate with New Orleans. He was happy to share what's unique and interesting about each of them!

“First, New Orleans is probably best known for the French and Spanish-influenced structures that comprise much of the city's historic center, the French Quarter. I say French and Spanish 'influenced' because although New Orleans was founded by the French in 1718 and ruled by the French and then the Spanish for a combined 80-plus years in the 18th century, due to two large and devastating fires in 1788 and 1794, only one French Colonial structure and only a few dozen Spanish Colonial structures actually remain,” Ernst explained.

The creator of the group said that most of the historic houses and other structures in this Quarter date from the 19th century. “Any of the best-known and most striking are adorned with architectural 'iron lace,' which is really what most people think of when they think of New Orleans' French Quarter,” Ernst said.

Ernst argues that “This often intricate ornamental ironwork graces many of the Quarter's plentiful two and three-story brick and stucco townhouses in the form of elaborate balconies and galleries. Of course, this is only one of the features that distinguish the singular character of what is perhaps America's most distinctive historic district, but it is also one of the most striking.”

Second, there are many stunning Italianate-style houses, often also bedecked with "iron lace," that populate the city's historic Garden District, Ernst told us. “The Italianate style incorporated a wide variety of classical details into its structures and was modeled on the elaborate and ornate villas of the Italian Renaissance period.”

“These stately 19th-century homes were most often built by newly arrived, wealthy merchants of Anglo-American extraction (as distinguished from older New Orleans families of means, who were primarily of French, Spanish, and free African descent, that still mostly resided in the French Quarter and surrounding neighborhoods),” Ernst explained.

“Last, but by no means final or least, are New Orleans' so-called ‘shotgun houses,’ which are long, narrow one and two-family frame houses originally built for working-class families. One of the things that makes these houses so interesting, aside from their unusual shapes, is that during the heyday of their construction (c. 1870s-1920s), they were often adorned with a variety of eye-catching exterior millwork, which was made possible even for modest dwellings at that time by cheap labor and the increased mechanization in the woodworking industry.”

Ernst explained that although shotgun houses exist elsewhere, nowhere do they exist in the sheer quantity and diversity that they do in New Orleans. “Also, in more recent years, residents have increasingly taken to painting their shotgun homes in combinations of vibrant colors, which tends to highlight the fancy millwork even more,” he added.

When it comes to the members of the Historic New Orleans Facebook group, Ernst said that they have “a wonderfully diverse membership of all ages from all over the United States and all over the world!”

“But I would say that the average member is a middle-aged or older American who has a strong interest, and often love for, New Orleans as a city and a strong interest in architecture, or at least in ‘house watching,’” he explained.

Ernst added that the community also has an upbeat, positive member base, which he thinks “(somewhat sadly) distinguishes us from many other popular social media groups.” “People often remark that they frequently visit the group, in part, as an escape from some of the rampant negativity that exists elsewhere on social media. We're all about the admiration and love for these beautiful historic homes,” Ernst told Bored Panda.

Having said that, Ernst believes that “while looking at pretty historic homes online is great (and I hope you do come to visit the Historic New Orleans Homes group on Facebook!), nothing beats going outside and strolling through a historic district in person, taking a guided walking tour of a historic district, and/or taking a guided tour of the inside of a historic house or other structure.” So he encourages everyone to get out and take advantage of these types of opportunities in their own cities and towns and when on vacation.

“Lastly, please consider learning about and supporting your local historic preservation society. It takes continual vigilance, advocacy, and support to make sure these beautiful historic structures remain intact for future generations,” Ernst concluded.